to be clear, my problem is the UX trying to trick you into accepting all cookies (including advertising), and moving the save button (traditionally where the red button is) all the way to the left.
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Eh thatâs pretty default behavior though?
thatâs not an argument for why something should exist/happen.
Weâre not trying to trick anyone, the Trakt experience is best if you allow all cookies. The advertising libraries arenât even loaded for VIP members, so that one isnât actually relevant. Typically the cookie consent shows up before youâre signed in though which is why itâs there. Functionality cookies will degrade some features of those cookies arenât allowed.
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Oh please. If every company does it like this and suddenly Trakt goes around exchanging the button order and everything now THAT would be confusing.
Go complain to the big guys and maybe something changes everywhere 
But also what Justin said. Thereâs not even advertising for us so those cookies arenât important and youâre probably happy you donât need to log on every time you close your tab.
Otherwise you can also set your browser to wipe cookies every time you close your browser!
Even if this dark pattern is used in many consent screens (but not all) and doesnât impact VIP subscribers as much, itâs still fair to point it out and criticise its usage.
This is after youâve already chose âCookie Settingsâ instead of âAccept Allâ on the initial small banner and itâs intentionally made to trick users into making a choice they donât intend. Just because a major part of the advertising industry plays it loose with user consent doesnât mean Trakt needs to follow that practice, especially since theyâre otherwise very user-friendly.
I checked the Cookie Consent library Trakt is using and it seems the v2 Trakt uses does not support changing the buttons besides flipping the order. However, v3 is close to releasing and addresses these issues. As this issue points out, v2 is also likely not GDPR compliant and needs to show the âReject Allâ button already on the initial small banner.
So it would be best for Trakt to update to v3 ASAP, to be GDPR compliant, reduce the reliance on dark UX patterns and properly respect user consent.
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Thanks for the links, I will check those out. Iâd prefer v3 be released publicly before updating our live website so Iâll check what the timeline is on that.
Our cookie consent was reviewed by our legal team and approved with how it works now for GDPR. It was added a little over a year ago, so not sure if something changed since then.
Good to hear! The latest v3 release is rc.16, so hopefully the final release is not too far out.
The mentioned issue links to noyb, a privacy advocate group, so I guess you can take their position with a grain of salt. But theyâve been filing hundreds of complaints against cookie consent forms and seem to have been generally successful in requiring an immediate opt-out in the initial cookie banner (though, most complaints are pending and the closed ones are a mix of closed due to compliance, wins, and some losses).
Since last year, the initial cookie consent screen needs to allow a user to just click âReject allâ or something similar, to only accept necessary cookies. So something did change. Our DPO checked this and passed this on and multiple government based clients of ours have asked us for this change which weâre rolling out everywhere.
That being said; I donât see any government agencies fining for this in the coming year, so switching should be ok to do when v3 is live and stable.
I do agree with the shadow pattern comment made by bowlcut. A lot of companies do this, and itâs a PITA for a lot of users and at minimum frowned upon. If possible, if the v3 supports it, switching things around would be a good thing imo).
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I would also like to see trakt NOT using a dark pattern. Itâs annoying enough on all other websites, letâs keep the cool sites cool.
I took a deeper look at CookieConsent v3 and it seems to have enough features for us to use it now. Hereâs the updated cookie consent that will go live later in the week.
Initial Consent
Cookie Settings
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I think you made the right call in just rolling this out rather than waiting on the upstream release cycle. This is just another example of why I think my Trakt membership is the best money I spend each year; all the former âgood guysâ in business and tech have cut and run, but Trakt still continues to do things for the right reasons.
All of my friends and acquaintances are sick of me evangelizing this site to them, but if thereâs ever a push to do an infomercial, I call dibs on being one of the personal endorsements. I mean it.
1 Like